The Quiet Ones
by xStaticxTelevisionx
Summary: Alice Liddell is still not convinced that Wonderland is a real place. Instead of thinking it's a dream however, she's progressed to thinking she's gone literally insane. The Role Holders need to find a way to convince her that Wonderland is, in fact, quite real. Assuming they want her to stay, that is.
1. Chapter 1

The Quiet Ones

**Hello, my name is Static and this is my first fic. I have a more or less love-hate relationship with this fandom. I've only read a few of the mangas, but I still think it presents some interesting, out-of-the-box ideas on what Wonderland is and could be. However some elements of the storyline and the characters themselves don't really seem to do the original fairytale much justice. Eh, whatever, still very much a fan. :P :3 Anyways, give it a read and tell me what you think! **

1\. When the Line Blurs

The woods were cold and dark. Flickering images wove in and out of her peripheral vision, only for her to turn and see nothing. It had been daytime less than thirty seconds ago, but because this world was so changeable, she should've known to be better prepared. It was pitch-black outside, with stars trying desperately to shine through the thick canopy of leaves above, but Alice was left pretty much blind. She hadn't even thought to bring a lantern on her little adventure to the Amusement Park, and now she was stranded in the middle of the forest, at what she assumed must be close to midnight, completely alone. _I wonder,_ she thought, _If this is how Ace feels sometimes._ Alice closed her eyes for a moment and opened them once more. _The paths are made of dirt and clean of brush. I can see a few stars through the trees. So long as I follow the strip of sky, I should be fine._ She took a deep breath, and continued on her journey. There was absolutely no reason for her to be afraid. _It's just a dream,_ she kept telling herself, _Just a silly little dream. I'm safe, at home, in the garden, asleep._ Alice wasn't afraid of the dark. However, she was afraid of being outside in the dark.

Back home, Alice's parents had always warned her about going outside at night. Bad things happened, people got hurt, murdered, kidnapped, all sorts of horrible occurrences. However, this was a dream. The situation she was in right now _was not real_. As much as she told herself that, she still doubted. As Alice spent more and more time in this world, she became more and more afraid. _What if I'm not asleep?_ She wondered, _What if I've woken up, and I'm hallucinating? What if – right now – I'm in the madhouse? I could be in Bedlam right now and not even know it. _She shook her head. No, her family might not particularly like her, but they would never be so cruel as to send her to Bedlam…Right?_ Each time I talk to someone from this world, I could actually be talking to a doctor, unable to tell the difference from this horrific and absurd fantasy as opposed to reality. I could be in a straightjacket right now, wandering around a cell, being afraid of nothing. _Lately, Alice had more and more of these thoughts. She was becoming convinced she was crazy. She couldn't be asleep, because the cold of the Clock Towers winter created goose bumps on her arms. The heat of the amusement's park summer made her sweat. She could feel bruises and scratches and any other injury she might obtain here until it healed. She was aware of the minutes and hours that passed. People did not perceive such things in the middle of dreams, at least she never had.

_I'm feeling things from the real world,_ she thought, _but somehow, I've become unable to see it as it actually is._ And that thought alone terrified her more than the darkened forest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I think I'm going to make Ace a main character in this story as well. It was going to be just Alice, but when I went and re-read the manga, I remembered what an interesting – if batcrap insane – character he was, so if you're an Ace fan, you're in luck. Anyways, I'll stop talking now, enjoy!**

Lost in the Forest….Again.

Ace had once again found himself inexplicably lost in the forest. He knew that there were roads that lead to all the different places he had to go. He knew that if he simply followed the dirt path, he wouldn't spend days on end trying to reach the Clock Tower. Ace knew these things, yet whenever the opportunity presented itself, into the woods he'd go, simply because the roads were boring.

He'd been trampling through the brush in his blood-stained cloak. It had been so long since he last washed it, he knew it would probably never regain its original color, but that didn't matter. He'd just spend three time periods walking circles in the trees. He sighed in aggravation. He didn't want to be lost; as much as he made fun of the fact that he was directionally challenged, the issue made his life that much harder. He resented it. He let himself be irritated for a moment, took a deep breath, and smiled big. _Guess it's time to put up the tent!_ He thought to himself. He struck a match, lit his lantern, and started to uproot a few plants, as he could see no sign of a clearing. He started to hammer the tent stakes into the ground when he heard the bushes on his left (or was that his right?) rustle. He went to grab the hilt of his sword until he heard a girlish shriek, as though someone had tripped. His defensive stance relaxed as he heard a definitely female voice mumble to itself about how horrible the forest is.

"Ugh, my life is awful. Screw the forest." Alice stated as she promptly gave up and let her forehead rest on the forest floor. First, she came to the stunning realization that she was crazy, lovely. Next, she lost the path, awesome. Now, she tripped over a log and was fairly certain she'd sprained her ankle, fantastic. She was almost inclined to cry, but she decided she'd do so later, as she needed to check out her ankle. She carefully rolled to the side so that she was lying on her back, then she sat up, and tried to bring her foot closer to her limited vision. She bit back a cry of pain as tears built up in her eyes. Yep, she'd definitely hurt herself, and if she could barely drag her foot towards herself on the forest floor, there was no way she was going to be able to walk home to the Clock Tower.

"Was I a serial killer in a former life or something?" she mumbled, trying to decipher the reasoning behind her terrible luck, "Because if so, I apologize profusely." She huffed.

"You apologize for what?" A voice asked. Alice had thought that this night could not get any worse. She was wrong.

"Nothing, you're lost again?" She looked up to the grinning knight.

"Yeah, I had to deliver some clocks to Julius again." Then he noticed, "Why are you sitting on the ground like that?"

Alice deliberated over her options. Ace was not someone she wanted to be caught alone with. She could tell him she was just resting, he might leave her alone. On the other hand, she could also hope he was feeling merciful today and admit she'd hurt herself and couldn't walk. She didn't like that last option. Admitting weakness of any sorts to a man like Ace could result in death, or possibly a worse fate. As she thought it over, she came to a realization. She had no choice. She needed help, and right now, Ace was her only option. "…-rt myself." He heard her mumble.

"Sorry, what?" He asked, tilting his head a little. She sighed,

"I kind of tripped and…hurt my ankle. Will you help me please?" She stated, dropping her head to look at the ground as she swallowed her pride. Ace smiled to himself,

"So that's why you're sitting funny. Here let me help you up." He offered his hand to her and she took it. He lifted her to her feet, but as soon as she put pressure on her ankle, she yelped and leaned on the tree next to her, trying to stave off tears. Who knew a sprained ankle could hurt _that much_? Ace started to look worried. "Alice," he said, "If you're in that much pain, you shouldn't be walking. Let me carry you back to the campsite."

Needless to say, Alice was hesitant, but then again, the knight had never once before asked permission to put his hands on her. She looked at him warily, and then dropped her gaze.

"As much as I would like to insist that I'm fine, you're right. Will you please carry me to your camp?" She spoke quietly, so much that the knight almost couldn't hear her. He smiled slyly as her request reached his ears.

"Absolutely." Then very gently, he lifted her up and walked back towards the light of his lantern. As soon as he set her down on the log, he resumed his work on the in-progress tent in front of him, the lantern providing just enough light for them to see each other. "So what were you doing wandering through the woods at night? Isn't that kind of my thing?" He teased, she grimaced,

"I was actually going to the Amusement Park. I forgot how day can turn to night in two seconds, and forgot to bring a lantern." She admitted uneasily. He laughed,

"Come on Alice, I'd have figured you'd been here long enough to know better." His words were cheery and friendly, but Alice sensed a touch of something dark in his tone. "You never know who might cross your path in such a…vulnerable state." He said a little quieter, turning to face her. Needless to say, after the absolutely awful day she'd endured, Alice had reached the end of her rope. Although every fiber in her being screamed against it, she couldn't help challenging him.

"You mean someone like you?" She asked, meeting his gaze stonily, and Ace was surprised. And pleased. He laughed,

"And what would make you say something like that?" He asked, egging her on,

"The fact that you threatened to rape me in your tent and then came to the Clock Tower and shoved your gun in my face." He laughed, delight crossing his face.

"Ohh, Alice is being brave tonight." He grinned, but then a dark look crossed his features, "And now that you've brought it up, what makes you think I won't do any of those things now? You can't run, we're so deep in the forest that no one will hear you scream, Julius isn't expecting me for a few more time periods," He stepped towards her, "There's nothing to get you out this time." He finished softly. She looked at him with what he felt was an empty gaze.

"Ace?" She said, the question mark at the end quite audible,

"Yes Alice?"

"I've come to realize something. This isn't a dream. I'm bloody insane." And as she looked at him, he saw a tear roll down her face, and she broke down into hysterics. "It doesn't matter what I say to you, brave or not, because this place, this world, it's just a hallucination. I can feel the temperatures of the different territories and I can feel the wounds I obtain here," she stated, looking at her ankle, but then her gaze refocused to him. "I can feel the things from the real world, but for some reason, I can't perceive them as they really are." He tilted his head at her,

"So you mean to tell me I'm not real?" He asked dangerously. He could taste her rising fear on his tongue, and he decided he wanted a little more.

"Well, this is my hallucination. You may not be physically real, but you are a part of my mind. I guess that means you can't physically hurt me, and so, other than what horrors my mind can conjure up…." She trailed off. Now Ace had conflicting emotions, amusement and anger. He thought it was funny that she was still persisting in the idea that Wonderland was just a dream, even more so at the idea that he couldn't hurt her. He was angry because, well, she thought he couldn't hurt her. She thought he wasn't real, and that upset him to no end.

"Alice," his voice was quiet, and cold. She looked up at him met his stormy gaze with one of amusement. He knelt down to eye level. "If I'm not real, then how can you feel this?" He asked, gently touching her face. His hand then dropped to her waist, "Or this…" and then he grabbed her wounded ankle, "Or this." He watched as her face contorted in pain. "Alice I am just as real as you are." He whispered in her ear, and then kissed away the tears that dropped down her face. And then he sighed, a wave of guilt washing over him. "Let's get this fixed up." He murmured, then pulled some bandages out of his jacket and wrapped up her ankle. Surprise lit up her face, and then relief. He was surprised too.

**Lame cliffhanger is lame. I know. v.v**


	3. Chapter 3

**So did I do a good job on Dark Ace? He seems to have that weird kill-everything-you-see mentality, so it strikes me that he gets tired, keeping the happy appearance for too long a time. Dang he's hard to write. Anyways, R&amp;R and tell me how I'm doing. :)**

Ignore The Danger, See if I Care…

Ace had actually bandaged up her foot pretty well. She hadn't expected much from the psychopath, but to her surprise, he knew first aid. _He could've done well as a doctor._ She thought, after realizing that there was almost no more pain in her ankle.

After Ace had made his point, he behaved pretty innocently. Alice knew she shouldn't have provoked him like that, but in spite of his words, she also knew that he didn't exist. She sat on the log with him, patiently listening to him talk excitedly about whatever struck his mind. _If Ace is one of my hallucinations,_ she thought, _there must be something incredibly wrong with me._ She'd read a book on mental illness once. People who hallucinated about other people often imagined up someone with one or more striking similarities to themselves. If that was true, what did she have in common with Ace? He was – for all intents and purposes – a serial killer. He had a puppy-dog disposition that made him seem completely and utterly harmless, but if you did or said the wrong thing, you'd die horribly in two seconds flat.

"You know Alice," he said, breaking her reverie, "I've been thinking about what you said earlier, about Wonderland not being real. What, exactly, made you come to that conclusion?" he inquired, looking down at her. She shrugged,

"Well at first I thought it was a dream. I'd fallen asleep in the garden back home, and then 'awoke' to a fluffy talking rabbit. If you were from a world where such things didn't exist, and had suddenly been confronted with a speaking animal, what would you think was happening?" She answered, he nodded,

"Makes a little sense, but that doesn't explain why you've suddenly decided you're crazy." She smiled,

"I told you earlier. There are things in dreams that you don't really…notice. Dreams aren't this vivid, nor do they last this long. And seeing as my father has a degree in psychology, I know the symptoms of mental illness. I fit several." She finished sadly, looking down at her hands.

"What about me?" he asked,

"What?"

"What about me?" He repeated, "Do I fit any of these 'symptoms'?"

"Everyone here fits one or two of them." She answered vaguely, "Except for maybe Julius, he seems pretty sane." Ace snorted,

"So everyone here exempting the Clockmaker is insane." Well when he put it like that...it did sound a little ridiculous.

"Depends on your definition of insane, but from a medical point of view, yes." He rolled his eyes,

"I keep telling you Alice, we're not insane. This world is just very different from yours." She laughed,

"I know," she murmured, and looked up at the sky, "Well, I think I've had enough excitement for one day, I'm going to sleep." She stood up and wobbled a little. Ace made no move to help her as she cautiously made her way to the tent. "Goodnight." She said, zipping it up.

When Alice awoke in the morning, she opened her eyes to meet the blood-red gaze of the Knight of Hearts. When she first met him, the color had intrigued her, for she'd never seen it as an eye-color before, but soon enough, she became disenchanted. She met his stare head on.

"Is there something on my face?" She asked, turning a little pink. Alice didn't like it when someone looked at her too long, it made her feel paranoid. Ace didn't answer immediately, but a smile soon graced his face.

"It's daytime!" He exclaimed happily. "Time to move out!" She sighed and left the tent.

"You put everything away, and I'll try to find the path." She said,

"Huh? Yeah, sure." He answered absently; she rolled her eyes and walked away. For the first few minutes, she was fine. A little later, her foot started to feel a bit off. She debated for a moment. All this walking was probably bad for her ankle, but she'd left Ace a while ago, so he might not find her for some time. She kept going, and soon enough, she was limping.

"How have I not found the road yet?" She growled, leaning on a tree. She looked around for something – anything – familiar, but all she saw was the greenery. She sighed, and tried to continue on, when something fell off of one of the trees, or rather, some_one_. She looked down to see a fluffy pink boa wrapped around the shoulders of a purple-haired boy laying face-down on the ground. She laughed, and he looked up, startled,

"Oh, hey Alice, didn't see you there…" He trailed off awkwardly,

"You're a cat, how do you fall out of a tree?" she giggled at him. His ears flattened against his head.

"It's…a long story." He answered, standing up, "Anyways, what're you doing wandering around the forest?" She was about to answer when he noticed the white gauze wrapped around her foot. "Hey, what happened?" He kneeled down to investigate the injury,

"I was actually on my way to the Amusement Park a while ago…" And she explained what had happened. How it turned to night, and how she tripped, and how Ace had come and 'saved' her. Not that she'd ever use the words 'Ace' and 'saved' in the same sentence. She'd just finished telling Boris that she'd been looking for the path when – speak of the devil – a man in a bloodied cape came crashing out of the bushes.

"Alice! There you are!" he exclaimed happily, "Did you find the road?" He asked. She shook her head,

"No, but I found Boris." The cats' ears flattened a little. He and Ace were…acquaintances, and the word was used lightly. Ace had made an attempt on Boris's life shortly before he'd arrived at the Clock Tower to shove his shotgun in Alice's face. It was safe to say they weren't friends.

"Hey there kitty-cat!" Ace greeted cheerily,

"Knight," he responded, tail flicking nervously.

"Sorry to be an inconvenience, but can you show me the way back to the Clock Tower?" Boris blinked, and pointed North.

"Keep going that way, no turns or swerves, and you'll be there in no time." He said, "But Alice!" He turned back to the girl, ears perking, "Since you were going to the Amusement Park, how about you come with me?" She immediately smiled,

"I'd love to!" But when she moved to follow him, she stepped on the wrong foot and yelped. "Or maybe not…" She glared down at her ankle. The cat's face fell, and then something occurred to him,

"You know we've got doctors at the park too, maybe you should come back with me anyways; your ankle could be broken." He moved to hold his hand out to her, but Ace interrupted,

"It's not broken. I fixed it up last night, but with all the walking you've been doing…" He looked to Alice, "You should know better," he scolded gently. She glared back,

"Well it's not like _you_ could've found the road." She growled. He laughed,

"True, but Alice," he leaned down to her, so that Boris couldn't hear when he said, "Don't go around telling the others that they're not real. It could end _very_ badly for you." She raised an eyebrow at him,

"I'll make a note of it." She stated dryly and allowed the Cheshire Cat to help her walk away. Maybe she shouldn't have talked to the knight….

At the park, one of the medics confirmed what Ace had said,

"Your ankle isn't broken, but you shouldn't be walking. It'll only aggravate the injury." Alice sighed,

"How long am I on bed rest?" she asked, the doctor mulled it over,

"I'd say about…nine time periods, depending on how long they are." She groaned,

"So roughly, a week," she muttered, doing the math in her head. Boris seemed to notice her drop in mood, so he quickly stated,

"Don't worry Alice, I'll hang with you." She smiled,

"At least I know I'll have good company, but I was thinking more about the fact that I'm going to be trapped inside for a _whole week_." She then shoved her face in her pillow out of sheer frustration, "I'm going to be so _bored_." Her words were muffled by the material, but the cat managed to pick up on what she was saying. A mischievous glint shone in his eyes,

"Don't worry about it. I know the perfect solution." And as Alice looked up at his face, she found herself regretting that she had ever spoken.

**Alright, so it just occurred to me that I forgot to explain something from the first chapter. Bedlam – now Bethlam Royal Hospital – was an insane asylum in Victorian times (as well as long before). It was known for the harsh treatment of its patients and was widely feared by anyone who had the slightest idea that they might not be mentally right. If you were given the option between Bedlam and death, death would've been preferable. The word "bedlam" is now synonymous with "madness" or "chaos". Please leave a review. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**I just went back and read my work on the site, and I noticed a couple of grammatical errors that I somehow missed and they are driving me insane. Can someone please message me and tell me how I can fix it? Thanks. ~Static**

/*\

4\. Damaged Nerves

_That's it,_ Alice thought to herself, _I'm going to kill Boris._ And in that moment, she'd have gladly shot him with his own gun and smiled about it. She'd have danced on his corpse and laughed. When his body disappeared, she'd track down Ace and gleefully present him with Boris's clock and she would have felt absolutely no regret. This is just how angry the Outsider was, and the Cheshire Cat had no idea.

As for what had happened to upset the 17-year-old so much, that was easy. She'd been sound asleep. She was comfortably wrapped up in her blankets in the infirmary and for the first time since she'd been dropped into this insane place, she slept well. No nightmares, no Nightmare, not even a dream. For the first time, she'd been completely at peace, and then Boris just had to go and wake her up. Now this offense, she could forgive, however just as she was about to ask _why_ he woke her up, he blindfolded her, bound her hands and feet, and threw her over his shoulder announcing that he was taking her somewhere. All she could do at this point was blindly scream profanities at him while trying to get her momentary fear under control.

"Dang Alice, where'd you hear _that_ word? There is no way you know what it means." He laughed as he pulled her away from the comfort of the Amusement Park Infirmary.

"I'll tell you what it means!" She snarled back and continued calling him names.

"Whoa," a young-sounding voice interrupted, "I didn't know onee-san said things like that." It stated in shocked awe,

"What did you _do_?" Another asked reverently. Boris had brought her to see the twins. And they'd heard her yelling swear words at the cat. There was no way they'd ever let her live this down.

"Nothing. I woke her up and threw her over my shoulder, next thing I know she's calling me a–"

"For the love of whatever you think is holy SHUT! UP!" the girl wailed, struggling to be let down,

"Alice, no offense, but I probably shouldn't put you down yet." She could _hear_ the smile in Boris's voice. That's right; her ankle still wasn't fully healed. For a brief moment, she wondered what was actually happening right now up in the real world, but soon forgot to care when another voice – the absolute last one she wanted to hear right now – spoke up.

"Well what do we have here?" The voice sounded amused, and she half expected it to make some lewd comment backhandedly calling her a slut.

"I hate my life." She whimpered into the cat's back, and then louder, "Hey Blood? If I ask really nicely, will you kill Boris?" The perpetrator in question laughed,

"But you seem to be having fun." He definitely sounded entertained.

"I hate all of you!" She yelled, "What makes you think it's a good idea to kidnap an injured person?!"

"But you said you didn't want to be bored!" The cat objected,

"I think that you and I have very different definitions of bored, Boris! _Sleeping_ is not bored and being abducted against my will is _not_ fun!" She retorted, "Now take me back to the infirmary so I can heal!"

"Make me." Was his answer, and it got deathly quiet. Having been unable to see for almost half an hour, Alice's other senses had started to kick in. She could hear the twins draw in a breath, waiting for her next mental explosion. She could hear Blood muffling his laughter, and she could feel herself starting to slip. _You know what?_ She thought to herself, _If I'm honestly crazy. I might as well play the part._

"Boris," she said very calmly, "If you don't take me back right now, I will personally steal your favorite knife and vivisect you. I'll make stew out of your organs and I will feed it to the dogs. I'll personally deliver your clock to Julius and I will feel no remorse." And for a moment it was quiet. Then Blood started laughing.

"You must've infuriated her to no end, cat," he stated, "Such a threat over nothing more than lost sleep." There it was, that familiar condescending tone she'd become so accustomed to hearing from him alone, "How childish." She was going to say something, but then it occurred to her. There was absolutely no point in fighting with him, in defending herself to him. _He's not real;_ she thought to herself, _he doesn't exist. His opinion doesn't matter. _For the first time since she'd met him, she didn't rise to the bait. She got the feeling he didn't like that. "Hmm? Nothing to say for yourself, young miss?" Still she remained quiet, "Now you're going to sulk too? Wow, this is a new low for you." She wanted to stay silent; she really did, but that word 'sulk', that had struck a nerve.

Alice could hear her sisters' voice in that word, telling her to grow up. _"Now please stop sulking and be happy for me!" _Her sister told her that it didn't matter. She could hear the woman saying that her disgrace didn't matter, that it was childish for Alice to feel such horror over her shame. She said this even though in any other family, Lorina and her lover would have been _shunned_ for what they did. However, Alice was different. It didn't matter if she was hurt, even by something so socially taboo, there'd be no consequences for those who'd done the damage. She'd been a pawn in his game, and nothing more, and no one had cared. The word that Blood had used reminded her of that. She threw Ace's advice to the wind, and let the words escape,

"You behave as if your opinion matters." She said softly, calmly, and she knew she'd caught him by surprise,

"_What?_" He hissed dangerously. At this point, both Boris and the twins had stopped laughing and were hardly breathing. They recognized the tone of voice that the Hatter was using, and it usually meant that someone wouldn't be breathing much longer.

"I said," Alice enunciated slowly, "You behave as if your opinion matters."

"It doesn't?" He asked, deceptively calm,

"Nope," she answered without missing a beat, "Because you're not real." That one phrase surprised everyone, the Hatter laughed,

"You can't possibly think you're still _dreaming_? How quaint."

"I know that I'm not dreaming." She said as he started walking away, "I've simply gone mad." Her voice had lost all the emotion. "I'm probably sitting in the asylum, right now, talking to thin air…" She trailed off, so quiet that even Boris's ear strained to hear. There was a moment of silence.

"…We're all mad here." And that was all the Hatter said before he ordered the twins away, threatening to dock their pay if they took too long. Boris was left with the duty of getting a mentally rattled Alice all the way back to the Amusement Park.

/*\

**I didn't mean for this chapter to end that...sad. Nonetheless, I feel quite happy with it. Now that Alice has started alienating her friends, the real action can begin. Maybe now I can put some time into inventing my own back story explaining what happened with Alice, Blood's look-alike and Lorina, since it's never really been specified. (They never even said what the guy's name was.) Could be interesting, anyway R&amp;R! :3**


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